Nancy

The Frenchman talked about building castles in the sky. He laboured under the fatal impression that he had time to deliver his vision and that he deserved patience. In his parallel universe he said that winning wasn’t everything while his masterpiece was under construction.

It was all about the “process.” He called on people to look at his past record as evidence of his ability. “Do your job,” he told journalists the day before failing to do his in a 3-1 home loss to Rangers, following on from a 2-0 defeat by Motherwell.

Nancy and Tisdale had to go. What’s also obvious is that the hapless state of the club goes way deeper than those two over-promoted characters. It goes back to who ratified their appointments and why. It goes back to Celtic not just losing their way on the field but off it. It goes to the very top.

Celtic have now lost a manager, a head of football operations and a chairman (Peter Lawwell, driven out by an abusive element in the support) since Hogmanay.

The lack of communication from the club is remarkable. Never mind the extreme elements of the support, regular fans – the vast, vast majority – feel a profound disconnection, an alienation from what is going on.

There is a sense of entitlement among some, for sure, and it’s easy to poke fun at that given all the titles Celtic have won. But, elsewhere, there’s just an anger about a club on the drift, making lousy decisions, going backwards domestically and in Europe while sitting on close to £80m in the bank.

These fans talk of a lack of ambition, a lack of a plan under the current board, led by Michael Nicholson, the chief executive, and Dermot Desmond, the major shareholder, and the power in the shadows.

Celtic’s vision seems to amount to staying ahead of Rangers and seeing what they can get out of Europe, if anything.

Brendan Rodgers railed against that thinking and his relationship with the powerbrokers at the club crashed and burned. There was a callousness about his exit and the brutal words about him from Desmond. Rodgers, for all his flaws, did not deserve that.

His assistant manager, John Kennedy, also left at that time. Kennedy had been at Celtic for 27 years as player and coach and yet he was given barely a sentence in a statement when he departed. He deserved more. It’s a legitimate question to ask – where’s the dignity and the class?

There’s not a big picture view at Celtic, or not one that’s apparent. Celtic could finish off their stadium and make it a near 80,000 citadel, one of the continent’s best, but they haven’t done it.

They could build one of football’s greatest museums – lord knows they have enough icons and great moments to fill it – but there’s no sign of it.

They could have deployed a modern and razor-sharp scouting system, but they haven’t done that either.

They bob along, cash-rich and content with bossing it parochially, but even that is now at risk. The emergence of Hearts and the support they’re getting from Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics is threatening to change the game in a very significant way.

Celtic thought they could take a gamble on Nancy because they couldn’t imagine a world where any other side could rival their hold over the league title, their bread and butter.

Rangers were far from great, but they were dogged and they hung in there and when their chances came they buried them. Youssef Chermiti, of all people, was the chief tormentor. In nine pulsating minutes he doubled his total for the season and wrote his name into a new kind of Rangers pantheon – from zero to hero.

Nancy spoke later and in trying to talk his way through the latest submission from his team he only reaffirmed his sense of distance from footballing reality.

He mentioned that Celtic “deserved more” than a 3-1 loss, when they didn’t. Not taking their chances when they had them was on Celtic, not anybody else. Deserve had nothing to do with it. It was the Celtic board who created a situation where their manager was left with scant options upfront. From meagre rations, he plumped for Johnny Kenny. It didn’t work out.

The Frenchman made some comments about the loss not being about players and tactics. “It’s about moments, it’s about details,” he said, as if moments and details exist in a parallel universe from players and managers.

“It’s not about myself,” he said. Well, it is, but to a point. It’s also about the players he has confused and bewildered with his ill-fitting shape and the ideology he refuses to alter no matter how befuddled things become.

On Friday, he made much of how difficult it’s been to introduce his system without a pre-season to bed-in his ideas. He didn’t have a pre-season to work with his players and he didn’t have a transfer window to bring in more players that could play his system. And yet he pressed on with the system regardless. Stubbornness? Arrogance? Naivety? All three at once?

Danny Rohl went into Rangers, surveyed what he had and got pragmatic. Like Nancy, he needs new players, too. Many of them. But he’s found a way to drag his team forward when his counterpart has only succeeded in taking his players backwards in the pursuit of something that only he can see.

The soft progress achieved under Martin O’Neill has been sacrificed on the altar of “process” and some self-regarding notion that Nancy is a visionary who’s building a footballing monument.

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy insists he is still “together with the board” and believes “we can turn things around” despite falling to a sixth loss in eight games following the derby defeat to Rangers.

The Frenchman hailed an “outstanding” first half from his team, during which they took the lead through Yang Hyun-Jun and passed up several other chances.

However, their city rivals roared back in the second period and exposed the home side’s defensive fragility with a double from Youssef Chermiti and a third from Mikey Moore.

The 3-1 defeat means Rangers move level on points with second-placed Celtic, who could be six adrift of Hearts if the leaders beat Livingston later on Saturday.

While fans of the Parkhead side staged a post-match protest directed at the club board, Nancy told BBC Scotland: “It was disappointing because we deserved more today, but again we needed more goals.

“In the second half, we conceded three goals from throw-ins. It’s difficult to accept, but it’s reality. This is not about the players or the tactics, this is about moments.

“This is not about myself, this is about disappointing the fans because I know the meaning of this game. I can understand the disappointment, but I also saw what we’re able to do.

“We are really close, there are many things that can turn around. If it was not the case, I would not talk like this. I really believe we can turn things around.

“We are together with the board.”

“As you know, I need time,” he said. “Give me time and you’re going to see what I do. You can already see what I did before because I didn’t start yesterday.

“I’m going to be a liar if I say, ‘everything is happy, everything is good’. No, it’s not the case, but I knew that before.

“That’s why I’m calm during all the questions you ask me. I’m not pleased to hear people don’t like me, but they have the right to say it because in terms of results, this is not what we want.

“Tomorrow is a big game. But the context is that I’ve only had 13 training sessions with my team. Usually we have four weeks of pre-season.

“It’s totally normal that you guys kill me. I’m fine with that because I know where I want to go. Judge me in a few weeks or months. If you want to judge me now, you can do it. I didn’t have the results we wanted – it’s a fact, I cannot deny that.”

Nancy says he will “die” to achieve his goals at Celtic and believes results under him have not reflected performances.

“It’s totally normal my players need a bit of time and are confused at certain moments,” he explained.

“It’s a process. I don’t like the word process because people think I am going to hide behind ‘process’, but it’s true.

“Judge me, no problem, but have a look at the games since I have been here and analyse if we should have won or lost. Do it.

“I am a clear guy. For the moment, I cannot talk because results are not good enough. I shut my mouth and I take it, but I know where we are going. After that, if it’s going to work or not, I don’t know. We are going to do everything to do it and I am here for that.

“Yes, I want to win every game. Yes, I want to win titles. I want to create a legacy here. I am going to die for this club, for sure.”

Strictly viewers have spotted a very tense moment between professional stars Nancy Xu and Carlos Gu, who are said to have had a falling out last year

Strictly Come Dancing fans have spotted a tense moment between two stars – when Nancy Xu appeared to be annoyed moments before Carlos Gu and Karen Carney were announced as this year’s winners. Nancy, 34, has reportedly been locked in a feud with Carlos, 32, since last year amid claims that the pair had fallen out.

But there was one sign this weekend that appeared to back the speculation. As Karen and Carlos spoke to host Claudia Winkleman, there appeared to be tension brewing in the studio. Elated by their performance ahead of taking home the Glitterball Trophy, Carlos and Karen were both extremely emotional.

Carlos told Claudia that Karen had unlocked his inner “team player” throughout their time on the show. He said: “I came to Strictly after competing live.

“I was self-centred, I was me, me, me. It’s no wonder I didn’t get a partner last year because I’m not grateful.” But Nancy, who this year didn’t have a famous partner, didn’t look impressed as she wrapped her arm around Johannes Radebe.

As the moment aired on screens, fans instantly took to social media to share their thoughts with one writing: “Could Nancy even attempt to hide her dislike for Carlos?” A second penned: “If you don’t like him then stay out of camera shot and keep your feelings to yourself.”

“Nancy so not bothered by Carlos’s tears,” said a third. A fourth typed: “‘No wonder I didn’t get a partner last year.’ Bit of a dig at Nancy, Luba and Neil. For context, Nancy and Carlos were BFFs until a big fallout last year, I think it was.”

However, after Karen and Carlos were announced as the winners, Nancy appeared to offer an olive branch. Sharing a snap of this year’s stars on Instagram, she said: “Congratulations for all the final couples! And Well‑deserved Winner @kazcarney and Carlos. Thank you for all the tears and laughing Strictly 2025.”

But she failed to tag Carlos in the post, which didn’t go unnoticed. One follower said in the comments: “Brilliant series! Shame there seems to be a bad atmosphere between you and Carlos. I guess, in my ideal world, I want you all to be BFFs.” “Now Nancy is not tagging Carlos in her post for Karen. They clearly had a big fallout,” commented another.

Meanwhile, a third said: “Gutted Nancy and Carlos are no longer friends. I hope the final has made them patch things up.” Carlos and Nancy met as children and instantly became close friends. At one point, he said she was his “favourite sister,” while Nancy also called Carlos her “baby brother.”

However, last year the pair unfollowed one another on social media. It was also reported that they would avoid speaking to one another backstage on the BBC One dancing competition. Meanwhile, Nancy was said to be extremely disappointed this year after not getting matched with a celebrity.

It was claimed she was “absolutely incensed” having performed well during the Christmas special, which aired almost a year ago to the day.

The Mirror has approached Nancy’s spokesperson for comment.

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